Anthony 'Big Kat' Erekat Chews Up Final
Table and Wins Event #12, $300 No-Limit
Atlantic City, NJ—"I wanted the ring for my 13-year-old daughter as a Christmas present," explained Anthony "Big Kat" Erekat after winning the 12th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. That's why he offered a generous deal to his final two opponents, essentially ending the evening after one necessary show hand. The show hand was almost a formality because Erekat, who had gone on a huge late rush, winning about nine or 10 hands in a row, at that point owned more than 800,000 of the 1.25 million chips in play. Along with the striking diamond-and-gold trophy ring, he also won an official $24,096.
Erekat describes his play as "chameleon" -- adapting to other playing styles and tonight felt his opponents in general were playing too passively, so he would move in whenever he felt he might have the best hand.
Erekat, 33, is in the sports memorabilia business (no, he had nothing to do with the O.J. hold-up) began playing eight years ago in the New York underground clubs and has a prior seventh-place Circuit cash to his credit. He plays $5-$10 no-limit cash games and "any tournament where someone will stake me." He was staked in this one. Tonight he was above average throughout the tournament.
This event attracted 251 players who generated a prize pool of $75,300. The event took under two hours to complete after the 10 remaining players returned on day two. At that point, Erekat and Eugene Fouksman were in a dead heat for the chip lead with 184,000 apiece. We got to the final table of nine a few hands later after Robert Sichelstiel, all in with K-9, was up against Martin's pocket kings. Sichelstiel busted out when the board came 5-5-A-10-J and Martin edged into the lead with 183,000. Play began with blinds of 6,000-12,000 and 2,000 antes, 39:52 on the clock.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Daniel Yanofski 143,000
Seat 2. Chad Martin 183,000
Seat 3. Eugene Fouksman 175,000
Seat 4. Anthony Erekat 180,000
Seat 5. Jon-Paul Interlandi 168,000
Seat 6. Kevin Bober 104,000
Seat 7. Brian Adragna 115,000
Seat 8. Charles Futcher 90,000
Seat 9. Eric Doerr 124,000
On the first deal, Charles Futcher, a river pilot on the Delaware River, moved in for 88,000 with pocket queens. Jon-Paul Interlandi called with Ah-Qh. He flopped a flush draw, missed, but settled for an ace on the turn. The bullet sank Futcher's boat and he finished in ninth place, which paid $1,596. Futcher is 49 and from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He's been playing two years and finished 11th at Borgata in his first-ever tournament. He also enjoys mountain bike racing.
Not long after, Fouksman was all in. Like Interlandi, he had Ah-Qh and was a big underdog, this time against As-Ks held by Brown. But, unlike Interlandi, he couldn't outdraw his opponent. Two spades flopped, another turned, and the flush left Fouksman in eighth place, worth $2,259. Brown, meanwhile, doubled his lead to 365,000 of the 1.25 million chips in play. Fouksman, from the Ukraine, now lives in New York City where he is an investment analyst/poker player. He started playing as a kid, seriously for three years. His cashes include a chop of a $1,000 Circuit event at Caesars Atlantic City and a third at the $5,000 main event.
Blinds now went to 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes playing hour rounds. Martin immediately claimed his third victim, climbing even higher to 492,000. This time it was Daniel "Phantom" Yanofsky, who moved in with A-7. Martin called with A-8 and six were left after a board of Q-Q-5-K-4 couldn't help Yanofsky, who took out $3,012 for seventh. Yanofsky, 56, is a real estate broker/owner from West Orange, New Jersey. He's been playing 30 years and has had numerous cashes here and in the New England area.
A couple of hands later, Brian Adragna finally stopped Martin's streak, doubling through him with pocket kings to Martin's jacks. The next confrontation was between a cat ("Big Kat Erekat) and a fish (Eric "Clown Fish" Doerr). Naturally, the cat ate the fish. Doerr moved in after only looking at one card, a king. "Oh, wow," he said, discovering his other card was a mere trey after Erekat called with pocket fours. "A four! A four!" Erekat loudly demanded, and got his wish on the flop. He then filled, and Doerr was out in sixth place, which paid $3,765.
Doerr, 34, is an AT&T sales trainer/poker player from Newark, Delaware. He's been playing four years and his cashes include a third at the Wynn Classic and an eighth at the Bellagio Cup III. His other interest is car racing.
Right after that, Kevin Bober pushed in with A-10 and Big Kat pounced with pocket jacks. The board of 5-6-Q-5-8 was irrelevant, Bober was out in fifth place, which paid $4,518, and Erekat now had the lead with about 450,000. Bober, 24, is a manager from Glassboro, NJ, playing for five years and "still learning."
And now it was Big Kat making his third straight kill. He held As-5s against Interlandi, all in with As-7s. Erekat outdrew him when a flop of 2-5-10 gave him a pair, which held up after a 6 and 9 came. For fourth, Interlandi picked up $5,271. Interlandi is a 26-year-old construction worker from Brooklyn who has been playing four years,
Now holding a huge lead, Erekat proposed a deal which was accepted by his two opponents. To make things kosher, they played a final hand with everybody moving in. Erekat had As-5s, the board came 2-5-10-6-9, Martin and Adragna mucked, and this event was in the books. With more chips, Martin was credited with second place, Adragna third. For third, Adragna got an official $6,777 and Martin $13,252 for second.
Adragna, 34, lives in Queens, New York where he was a doorman until recently. He started playing four years ago after being inspired by Moneymaker's WSOP win.
Martin, 27, is from Ontario, Canada, dividing his time between a construction company he owns and playing poker. He's been playing 10 years, is mainly a cash game player. His poker highlight is "cashing out daily." --Max Shapiro
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